The South African Football Association (Safa) said yesterday that it won’t appeal against Fifa’s unprecedented decision to strip it of a victory in World Cup qualifying and order a replay because of match-fixing by the referee, the federation said yesterday.

Safa announced it would not appeal the order that annulled South Africa’s 2-1 win over Senegal last November, but said that its “rights to sue for damages remain open.”

That raised the possibility that Safa might seek compensation from Fifa, which it believes should take responsibility for the referee, who was appointed by Fifa’s referees committee despite some suspicious performances.